1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to voice communications systems, and more particularly to a system and method which consolidates personal communications services by routing telephone calls from a wireless unit to another electronic device, such as a hard-wired telephone. The invention is also a memory card and method for using the memory card to store information for configuring a communications device to perform wireless communications over, for example, a specific telephone number. The invention is also a communications device which may be programmed to operate over a specific telephone number.
2. Description of the Related Art
The last several decades have produced significant advances in personal communications technology. Mobile phones, fax machines, pagers, and e-mail are commonplace in the lives of most people.
While consumers have enjoyed the conveniences of these services, they have not come without a price. Perhaps most significantly, customers are required to have separate phone numbers in order to meet their personal communications needs. It is typically the case, for example, that one number is used for land-line voice communications, another number is used for fax communications, and another number for cellular communications. Still other numbers may be required for paging, long-distance, and internet services. Using separate numbers for these services has proven to be very expensive. During any given month, consumers may expect to receive multiple bills each having separate taxes and services fees applied.
The frustrations associated with the state of the telecommunications industry, in terms of cost and service, was recently recognized by the Wall Street Journal. In an article entitled, Reform Act Hasn't Delivered Promises to Customers,” published on May 3, 2001, the Journal made the following observations:                “If it feels like you're spending more money than ever to use the phone and watch TV, you're right.        Despite the Telecommunications Reform Act's promise to unleash price-slashing competition in phone and cable-television service, most households today have no choice in either service, and when they open their bills, almost everything is higher. For example:                    Prices for high-speed Internet access has risen 33% since the act took effect in 1996—almost three times the rate of inflation.            Local bills are ballooning due to numerous fees the Bells and regulators have slapped on or ratcheted up . . . Subscriber line charges, which cover the cost of the copper line connecting consumers' homes with the network, will go up in July to $5 per line, from the $3.50 level they were at just a year ago as a result of combining old fees.            . . . [C]onsumers can find they are masing costly calls when using calling cards or an operator. For example, AT&T charges 45 cents a minute and a $2.99 service charge for those dialing its 1-800-CALL-ATT service.                        On top of all this, many consumers are wincing at increases in the so-called universal-access fee, a government-ordered subsidy for providing phone service and computer connections to rural communities, schools and libraries. The fee rose this year to about 9.9% of a long-distance bill; a year ago, the fee was $1.38.        The result: Total spending on local, long distance, Internet access, wireless and cable TV per household last year rose more than 13% to $167.40 a month from $147.95 per month in 1996 . . . ”        
The Journal article discussed above captures the discontent most Americans are feeling with respect to their telecommunications service. The inconvenience of not only paying for but also having to remember two, three, or even four telephone numbers to satisfy consumers' personal communications needs is inefficient for businesses and individuals.
Attempts have been made to reduce the hardware burden on consumers with respect to accessing telecommunications services. Motorola, Inc., for example, has produced a cordless telephone which converts to cellular service when a user carries the phone outside the range of a base unit. Such a phone is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,260,988, 5,127,042, and 4,989,230. The approach taken in these patents does not solve the problems which face users in the telecommunications industry today. For example, the Motorola phones are manufactured to handle calls from both a local exchange carrier and a wireless service provider. Consequently, a consumer who uses these phones is still required to pay for a cellular phone number and a separate land-line phone number.
In view of the foregoing considerations, it is apparent that there is a need for a system and method which not only reduces the hardware burden on consumers with respect to their personal communications needs, but which also reduces the price and inconveniences associated with obtaining services of this type.